"Modern" Day Aerospace Phenotype?

[BirdDog]

Hey all,

I had a question regarding the Aerospace Pilot phenotype.  I was reading the Dark Age Novel Fortress Republic, and there's a scene regarding Khan Sterling McKenna of the Raven Alliance.  Everything I've seen indicates she is an Aerospace pilot, however during the somewhat detailed descriptions of her, none of what we would consider "typical" Clan aero pilot traits are noted.

My question is, did the phenotype change at some point that I've just missed? Or was this just a decision on the part of the author since for all intents and purposes she was portrayed as attempting to "romance" certain characters?

IF the phenotype changed to a more 'standard' physical appearance, is this Clans-wide, or just a few? I also play in a megamek league with a fairly active RP element as the Raven Alliance, so knowing how to describe them is very beneficial.

Thanks in advance!

[foxbat]

IIRC, the McKenna Bloodname is a general one, not a specialised one; so she may not be of the ASF pilot phenotype, but may have tested into piloting an ASF. Khan Bjorn Jorgensson, of the Ghost Bears, comes to mind as such an instance.

[BirdDog]

Honestly didn't even know you could test into becoming a Aero pilot without being the phenotype. Excellent knowledge to have, thanks!

[master arminas]

The Ghost Bears, I believe, do not use the aerospace phenotype at all.  Their aerospace pilots are primarily of the MechWarrior phenotype.

Master Arminas 

[foxbat]

The Ghost Bears, I believe, do not use the aerospace phenotype at all.  Their aerospace pilots are primarily of the MechWarrior phenotype.

Master Arminas

Which is correct, as I'd forgotten that bit from the Warden Clans FM. Sorry.
Jorgensson, however, was from a Mechwarrior phenotype, failed to test into a Mechwarrior position, but succeeded in securing an ASF pilot one... so, indeed, not all clan ASF pilots are of the aerospace phenotype.

[Jellico]

Invading Clans make it clear that Bourjon, Gilmour and Devon are specific, exclusive Aerospace bloodnames. They do not use the Aerospace Phenotype, though one could argue that they have developed their own.

[rebs]

Besides the fact that in various fluff, it mentions that there seems to be no advantage for the Aerospace phenotype in the final analysis, so the Bears appear vindicated for their decision to not implement it.

[Alan Grant]

There is a lot about the Dark Age we still don't know. This could fall into one of those areas. We might discover that the Ravens ditched the phenotype for one reason or another at some point, we just don't know.

[Stormlion1]

It could also be the Snow Ravens had stopped using the old phenotypes as they were no working in comparison with Inner Sphere competition. It would be a waste to use rescources for something that doesn't work. Khan Sterling McKenna may have beeen the first of a non-clan style aerospace program.

[rebs]

They way I understand "General Bloodmanes" (non-phenotypic) is that sibkos are still produced with a specific goal in mind by the scientists and Bloodname House leaders who arrange these things.  A General name (such as Kerensky, Fetladral, Hazen, McKenna, Crow, Kotare, etc...) could have MechWarrior sibkos, Aerospace Fighter sibkos or even Elemental sibkos (with the additions of the corresponding Bloodline of that type).     So general names can produce "General" types of human beings, or they could be used to seed a phenotype sibko IF their genes were combined with those of a phenotype. 

Would this be correct?

(I'm trembling in fear and awe of the thought of angry Hazen Elementals armed with vibro-katanas, or worse, Khatib Elementals waiting to thump people on the skull with their Holy Books...)

(I also realize different Clans have different practices.  The Jade Falcon sibkos seem to be specific, while the Wolf sibkos are mixed up, both in phenotypes and bloodlines, thus Vlad, Rana, Carew and Evantha all saying to each other "do it for the sibko!")

[Stormfury]

Was she said to be an ASF phenotype? Perhaps she was one of their Naval Phenotypes?

[Stormlion1]

Is there even a naval phenotype? It always seemed the Clans used the basic Aerospace Phenotype for both jobs. Been mentioned a few times ship commanders once flew fighters afterall.

[Nav_Alpha]

As far as I know there is now "naval" phenotype. There's several references to dropship and jumpship crew being aerospace pilots who washed out of pilot training or failed/did poorly in their trial of position.
I wonder if trainees are identified at some point in training as either crew or pilots?

[rebs]

The Naval Phenotype was developed and used only by Clan Snow Raven.  The Bloodnames Lankenau and Sukhanov are listed as exclusive Naval phenotypes.   Check it out in Field Manual: Warden Clans.  The "Navies" are bred for analytical abilities, as well as command presence. 

edit: No other Clan uses them, though perhaps some of them should have, before most of their WarShips went *poof*.   It might have saved a few of them, though it might also have only made things worse.

[Stormfury]

As mentioned, the Ravens created a Naval Command Phenotype. They go through the Trueborn Creche and Trueborn Sibko paths for Stages 1 and 2, and may opt for the Naval Academy at Stage 3.

Since the Clans only offer the (Armoured) Infantry, MechWarrior, and AeroSpace fields at Stage 2, and the majority of the skills are useful, the implication is that Naval Command Phenotyped warriors are trained as ASF pilots in addition to their DropShip or WarShip skills.

I don't recall the Naval Command Phenotype's physique ever being described, and the only piece of art that depicts a Naval Command warrior does not show them as having the same physical features as an ASF Phenotype.

If Sterling has not been specifically singled out as of the ASF Phenotype, that would be an easy explanation to apply.

[BirdDog]

So, could a warrior of the Aerospace phenotype test into another role? I.e. that of a mechwarrior? Clearly they couldn't become an Elemental  ::)

But I'm curious if it would ever be possible to see a Clan warrior with an aerospace phenotype, possibly even a bloodname, piloting a battlemech.

[Stormfury]

In the overwhelming majority of Clans, you test for your Phenotype only. Fail your training there, and it's the Paramilitary Sub-Caste at best, demotion to a civilian caste at worst, at least in theory; in practice, civilians probably get better treatment than the police sub-caste.

The Ghost Bears are unique in allowing for retraining in another field. The Hell's Horses allow a second Trial of Position if the first fails for assignment to conventional vehicles, and the Steel Vipers used to have a second Trial of Position that would allow those who failed their original Trial to be assigned to their conventional infantry instead.

Aside from the very rare examples we have of injured active-duty Warriors retraining and retesting for a different service arm, you only get what you're bred for. Fail that, and the show's over.